Donovan's Prime Seafood

Always a pescaterian club, with fresh market fish offerings as unpredictable as the Nasdaq. And just past the alcohol bar, inside the jazzy dining room you'll find Donovan's new, full-service oyster bar. There are up to 14 bi-coastal bivalve options. (Ask that shucker which he prefers, plump, the farmed Paradise oysters from Vancouver Island or sweet Kumiai oysters from a paradise we call Baja California?) Now for the numbers: There are eight seats here. For happy hour (4 to 6 p.m. daily) the oysters are $1, and up to $3.50 at other times. Also Donovan's is pushing the oyster-condiment envelope with a house-made watermelon mignonette.

Solace and the Moonlight Lounge

On the second story of this sustainable dreamer, in downtown Encinitas, you'll find a raw-seafood bar. There's peel-and-eat shrimp (is there peel-and-discard?), yellowtail tartare, an image of The Dude from "The Big Lebowski," and $1.50 oysters on-the-half-shell for the weekday happy hour.

A plate of oysters on the half shell at Blue Point served with a variety of sauces.
— David Brooks / UNION-TRIBUNE

Other spots for fresh-shucked or baked oysters: the newly reopened Tom Ham's Lighthouse; Herringbone; Blue Point Coastal Cuisine; Oceanaire; JRDN; Tiger! Tiger!; Top of the Market; Spike Africa’s; Little Italy Mercato (look for the Poppa's Fresh Fish Company booth) AND Sea Rocket Bistro (which does $1 oysters all Tuesdays). There will be a chef’s oyster counter at the upcoming Fish Public (formerly Kensington Grill), too.